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JOE SATRIANI ‘SHAPESHIFTING’ AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE PT 2 0

Greg Phillips May 25, 2020 Artists, Interviews

Shapeshifting is guitar legend Joe Satriani’s 18th studio album and has rocketed straight to the upper regions of the record charts. In part two of this Australian exclusive, Australian Musician’s Nic Nighthawk caught up with Joe, swimming in a green screen to chat about the album, his relationship with Ibanez guitars and the ‘wow’ factor which makes an artist great!

The Shapeshifting session musicians consisted of: drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Fogerty), bassist Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction) and keyboardist Eric Caudieux, who were the core musicians on the new album with additional contributions coming from Lisa Coleman (The Revolution) and Christopher Guest. Jim Scott (Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) co-produced the album sessions with Satriani. Longtime associate John Cuniberti was on board as well, handling the mastering duties.

http://www.satriani.com/ https://www.nicolenighthawk.com/

Watch Part 1 of the interview HERE

Jun 08, 2020
Dom DiSisto

MAKE AND SHARE MUSIC GLOBALLY ON MAKE MUSIC DAY JUNE 21 0

Make Music Day is a global celebration of music making that takes place on June 21 every year in over 1000 places in 120 countries. Unlike traditional music festivals Make Music Day is an open invitation for everyone to make music anywhere and everywhere and register their events, so that you are part of a giant global program.

In pre-covid-19 years, whether you were beneath a skyscraper in Chicago, sitting along the shore of a small Greek fishing village or town square in Italy, on June 21st you would have found people making music. In this COVID-19 year, most of the music making globally will be performed online. However as restrictions in Australia ease, by June 21 there may be opportunities to join small groups of friends in parks or at your home to perform, taking into account the appropriate health measures of course.

To participate in Make Music Day on June 21 it really is as easy as making music in any way, anywhere you like and by using hashtags, you can share your experience with other music makers across the world.

You can either make music the way you’d like or take part in one of the many pre-organised events.

#LiveFromHome Challenge
One such idea is the #LiveFromHome challenge. Record and upload to your social media channel a video of yourself performing a song (cover or original) at home and tag three friends to challenge them to respond with their own performances. This can include Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and Twitch. Don’t forget to use the hashtags #LiveFromHome #MakeMusicDay #MakeMusicOz

#GlobalLivestream
As a “Main Stage” for Make Music Day, the Make Music Alliance will organize an all-day video stream on June 21 showcasing the rich diversity of being made around the world.

Australian Musician will be participating by streaming an event too by way of a virtual Melbourne Guitar Show, featuring performances by many of your Melbourne Guitar Show favourites

Many of the music companies are involved on the day too including Roland, who will be publishing performances from artists and end users throughout the day both on the Roland/Boss Facebook/Instagram and on the artist’s channels themselves.

And if Livestreaming is too complex for you and you want your music to be seen on Make Music Day, you can upload your video to the Make Music website’s Video Gallery. https://makemusicaustralia.org.au/submit-content/

If you want to know more about Make Music Australia visit https://makemusicaustralia.org.au/

Download your Make Music Day 2020 guide HERE and start planning your June 21st

Jun 01, 2020
Dom DiSisto

JOE SATRIANI ‘SHAPESHIFTING’ AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE PT 1 0

Shapeshifting is guitar legend Joe Satriani’s 18th studio album and has rocketed straight to the upper regions of the record charts. In part one of this Australian exclusive, Australian Musician’s Nic Nighthawk caught up with Joe via Skype to chat about the album and life in isolation and found him swimming in green screen! Joe also tells us he’s working on two new albums in lockdown, which will feature Thirsty Mercs Rai Thistlethwayte on keyboards.

http://www.satriani.com/ https://www.nicolenighthawk.com/

Watch part 2 HERE

Credit: Greg Phillips May 22, 2020 Australian Musician

May 25, 2020
Dom DiSisto

KAREN LEE ANDREWS: BLUES ON BROADBEACH ‘BANDWIDTH’ INTERVIEW 0

Keeping their chin up and forging ahead during the Covid-19 crisis, the good folks at the Blues on Broadbeach festival now present Bandwidth, a virtual showcase capturing live music performances from some of your favourite Blues on Broadbeach 2020 artists – all from the comfort of their own homes.

Self-isolating music fans around the world are invited to join the party. Amid a calendar of cancelled and postponed gigs and festivals, Broadbeach Alliance was adamant that Blues on Broadbeach would not be taken away from fans and is happy to announce that Australia’s largest free music festival will now be a 90-minute music event premiering Live on Facebook on Friday, May 15, 2020, at 7 pm AEST. Northern hemisphere-based fans can also join in on this experience with a special encore screening on Saturday, May 16, 2020, at 7 pm Los Angeles time PDT.

Bandwidth will feature many of the acts who had been booked originally for Blues on Broadbeach 2020 including: Tommy Emmanuel, The Black Sorrows, The Soul Movers, Tami Nelson, Turner Brown Band, Karise Eden, Shaun Kirk and more.

Also included on the bill will be the queen of Oceanic Blues, Karen Lee Andrews, who has impressed all with her smokey, passionate and soulful stage performances. Armed with a fabulous new EP “Far From Paradise”, Karen had planned to tour the EP this year and begin recording a full length album for 2021 release, however like everyone else plans are on hold. Thankfully via Bandwidth, we can all experience the fabulous Karen Lee Andrews in concert on Friday May 15th.

Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips caught up with Karen this week to chat about life in isolation, her gear (including that gorgeous Eastman hollow-body guitar she plays), and of course we talk about her Bandwidth appearance.

Hi Karen, how are you coping with isolation?
I’m hanging in there.

What are you missing most about normal life?
Just the spontaneity of going somewhere. The normal things we take for granted, going to the movies or just going to see our friends. That’s been hard, not seeing family but everyone is the same.

What’s been getting you through this period?
Trying to keep preoccupied building up my gym at home, adding a few things and making sure I keep as healthy as I can mentally and physically and just mucking around on the guitar. Also just taking the opportunity to try and relax and accept what is happening.

What plans did you have to put aside this year?
A lot of festivals and shows. From the the profits of that it would fund a new album, which would then help me get new festivals and shows next year. That’s been put on hold. It has been very disappointing but I’m very understanding of why we have to do that. It’s been a little bit devastating.

At least the Blues on Broadbeach people have resurrected the festival in virtual form with Bandwidth. You played Blues on Broadbeach in 2018, what are your memories of that?
It was the first festival I had played in 3 or 4 years, actually the first show in 3 or 4 years. I was really excited about it. When I got up on stage, it was empty but as soon as I started playing it filled up really quick. I just remember everybody there being music lovers. Everybody wanting to hear music. It’s so awesome when you are in an atmosphere like that and you’re the one providing the music. It’s amazing … a win win for everyone. It’s something that I definitely will always remember.

You’re now doing Bandwidth, the live stream version of the festival. Have you presented many livestreams since lockdown?
I’ve done a couple, one in my backyard and one in my home studio, so I have dabbled in that but I am really excited to be a part of Bandwidth, presented by Blues On Broadbeach. They have really been awesome to their artists and also to their audience, the people who come. With Bandwidth, Blues On Broadbeach tell you how it’s done in a production sense and I am really proud to be a part of the Blues On Broadbeach family.

Normally a festival provides an outline of what staging is available etc. Now they are providing guidelines for the livestream, so it has similarities but really, it’s a whole new world.
It will be really different. We completely respect and appreciate people who come to festivals like Blues on Broadbeach because the atmosphere and support and encouragement is amazing and we always want to give them the best performance that we can under certain conditions.

You recently released a new EP ‘Far From Paradise’. Why did you select those particular tracks to release?
It is a true representation of me. A lot of the songs were written at time when I felt all of those things, all at the same time. It took me about six months to write and formulate the songs and I picked those ones, they were in my heart and I felt that I could communicate them to the audience quickly and give them a glimpse of what I was doing and how I felt.

Is there a song on the EP that is closer to your heart?
I always say Love You is my favourite and will perform it on Bandwidth. It’s a really special song, inspired by one of my good friends and captures how a woman is in a relationship and the nurturing side of that. It is something that I try to be.

I see you a lot with a beautiful hollow body guitar. What is it and what do you like about it?
It’s an Eastman, based on a Gibson 335 but it’s a very clean sounding guitar, a very sweet guitar. What I like about it though is it’s bottom, the bass, so it can sound very, very heavy and can have very sparkly tops, which is what I really love. I got it from the Guitar Factory in Gladesville brand new. I have to use quite a few overdrives to get it a little bit dirty because it can sound very clean. What I like about it is that I can go between sounding really raunchy and ballsy to very sweet, so it is very versatile in that sense. They play amazingly and it’s just so stable and the same constantly, it’s great

I was looking at your promo for Bandwidth and there’s a pretty beat up Fender amp behind you. Tell me about that amp.
Yep that’s a Fender Vibrolux and its a custom made, very old amp. I bought it off my minister. Just the qualities are amazing. I love the warmth and I love the depth. It’s not so clean, it doesn’t have to work too hard before it begins to break up, which is good. I was too lazy to fix the cloth on it. I know I should, I’m being very irresponsible but there is something about the character of it that I really love.

You generally work as a trio, what do you like about the trio format?
Well Yanya Boston is my drummer and he has such a great sense of what’s going on and he gives himself to the music rather than it drives him. He’s very giving and generous when you play with him. He is about what makes everyone else sound amazing. Even when you ask him to do solos during a set, he doesn’t like to do them, even though he is more than capable. He just likes to contribute and make sure the artist is represented in the best way possible. Adam Ventoura, who plays bass is an amazing bass player who can manage to play on his own with just a bass and manage to entertain you for an hour and you’ll go, how did he do that? I get him to do a lot of the solos because he’s exceptional and a lot of the time people will come up to me after the set and say, you’re great but Adam, he’s amazing! I have two awesome musicians who I play with. We’re missing each other very much during this period. Traveling with them is awesome too, they are two great humans who look after a woman on the road. The dynamic we have on stage captures people.

You have an amazingly soulful voice. Who are some of the singers that inspired you growing up?
Growing up I sung a lot in church, that was a big influence on me. My family was a big influence too. We are Polynesian so I grew up listening to them singing to me. I would say that was my first influence. Then in my teenage years into my twenties, it was Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Gil Scott-Heron, so many artists, a lot of soulful artists, those that I could get my hands on because it wasn’t really played on radio.

Once lockdown is over, what’s the plan?
I am completely unsure. We just don’t know what the industry is going to look like. There are new innovations and people coming up with new ways to do things but I am keeping an open mind as to what the next step will be. Like everyone else, we are interested in seeing what the music industry will look like coming out of this.

People are saying that songwriters now have the time to write songs but you also have to be in a good creative headspace to do that, how are you finding things from that perspective?
I have an album ready to go. I was going to use a lot of the profit of what I was going to do this year in terms of festivals and shows, that was going to fund my album and I was hopefully going to release that in 2021 but because I have no shows, there’s no funding. I am ready, good to go, just don’t have any money. It’s good that people are writing during this time, that’s awesome but we just hope there’s enough resources at the end of it to help the artists get through it and record their new music that they have written

We look forward to seeing you on Bandwidth. What’s the best place for people to buy your music and learn more about you?
www.karebleeandrews.com and my EP will be on there.

Bandwidth Live on Facebook on Friday, May 15, 2020, at 7 pm AEST. Northern hemisphere-based fans can also join in on this experience with a special encore screening on Saturday, May 16, 2020, at 7 pm Los Angeles time PDT.

May 18, 2020
Dom DiSisto

MAKE MUSIC DAY 2020 IS GOING VIRTUAL 0

Make Music Day is a global celebration of music making that takes place on June 21 every year in over 1000 places in 120 countries. Unlike traditional music festivals Make Music Day is an open invitation for everyone to make music anywhere and anywhere and register their events, so that they are part of a giant global program. In this COVID19 Year we go online.

We’re encouraging any one and all to come up with innovative ways to make music online and share it from home or any place they can film themselves doing it. Register their performance on the Make Music Day Australia website and add the Tags #makemusicoz and #makemusicday and we start the build of a giant database of music from around the world. Film yourselves and post – there’d be Australian Musicians performing all over the world, promoted and exposed. Australia can lead the global event. In a 24-hour Make Music Day across the world, due to our international timeline, Australia is first in the program.

The following video shows what Make Music Day looks like normally around the world, this year it’s the same vibe but it’s all online.

The Australian Music Association and event partners the Live Music Office had invested months in organising 2020 Make Music Day Australia only to be stopped in their tracks like the rest of the music industry by Covid-19 – but it could go online and that’s what our brothers (including the US, UK, Germany, China, Brazil, Argentinia, Italy, and others) in the global Make Music Alliance agreed to. Let’s do it together and create a huge global celebration online. By June 21, who knows, we may be able to have groups of musicians at planned music events, but online is the focus this year. The Make Music Alliance has already released a series of activities online – Bedroom Studios Live From Home, Global Livestream, #MySongIsYourSong, Window Serenades, and Young Composers Contest.

There’s more simple and straightforward ideas for how people can get involved with Make Music Day 2020 in an online and digital space in the Digital Guide which you download HERE.

More coming soon! www.makemusicaustralia.org.au

May 11, 2020
Dom DiSisto

BLUES ON BROADBEACH ANNOUNCES BANDWIDTH FACEBOOK EVENT 0

Keeping their chin up and forging ahead, the good folks at Blues on Broadbeach now present Bandwidth, a virtual showcase capturing live music performances from some of your favourite Blues on Broadbeach 2020 artists – all from the comfort of their own homes. Self-isolating music fans around the world are invited to join the party.

Amid a calendar of cancelled and postponed gigs and festivals, Broadbeach Alliance was adamant that Blues on Broadbeach would not be taken away from fans and is happy to announce that Australia’s largest free music festival will now be a 90-minute music event premiering Live on Facebook on:
Friday, May 15, 2020, at 7 pm AEST. Northern hemisphere-based fans can also join in on this experience with a special encore screening on Saturday, May 16, 2020, at 7 pm Los Angeles time PDT.

FEATURING IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:
Karen Lee Andrews
Karise Eden
Li’l Chuck The One Man Skiffle Machine (NZ)
Shaun Kirk
Tami Neilson (NZ)
The Black Sorrows
The Soul Movers
The Turner Brown Band (USA)
Tommy Emmanuel (USA)
PLUS, ARCHIVAL PERFORMANCE FOOTAGE FROM BLUES ON BROADBEACH FAVE:
The Lachy Doley Group

Headlining Bandwidth will be original 2020 headliner Tommy Emmanuel. Not only is Tommy a national treasure, he was recently ranked THE greatest acoustic guitarist in the world today.

NZ’s Tami Neilson on stage at Blues on Broadbeach 2019
Auckland-based (via Canada) TAMI NEILSON (above) is set to once again impress fans after blowing audiences away at last year’s Blues on Broadbeach. Described as a “fire-breathing belter” by Rolling Stone, new fans will be super impressed by Tami’s voice which comes straight from the golden age of soul, country and rockabilly music. Her incredible singing and song writing have seen her win the ‘2014 APRA Silver Scroll Award’ as well as ‘Best Female Artist’ at the New Zealand Country Music Awards in 2010, 2011 and 2014.
“The best way to get rid of the blues is to sing the blues, so, I’m looking forward to joining you all online, with my brother Jay Neilson beaming in from Toronto to join me for a special set we’ve cooked up just for you!” said Tami Neilson.

High energy festival favourite, THE LACHY DOLEY GROUP, has performed at over 200 concerts and festivals around the world, including several shows at Blues on Broadbeach over the years. Lachy Doley is the most celebrated Blues Soul Rock Organ Player in the world, hailed by Glenn Hughes from Deep Purple as ‘the greatest living keyboard player in the world today’. Tune in to see Lachy Doley’s electrifying 2016 Blues on Broadbeach performance.

“These are crazy times… and to musicians and live music lovers these important restrictions have taken away a piece of our heart, culture and livelihood,” said Lachy Doley. “I’m thrilled that Blues on Broadbeach have decided to bring the festival into our homes.

“Alongside the incredible line-up from what was to be this year’s ‘Blues on Broadbeach’ festival, I’m stoked to have my 2016 Blues on Broadbeach concert aired as part of this great initiative.

“I love this festival and it’s incredible loyal audience that I get to catch up with whenever I’m there. This performance was one of the most career changing events in my life and I hope you enjoy it as much this time around.”

Festival Director Mark Duckworth says Bandwidth provides a fascinating way for fans to connect with some of their favourite artists through an online platform.

“The idea that Blues on Broadbeach would not make its annual appearance on the Gold Coast in 2020 was a shock to us all,” said Duckworth. “As we informed the artists and fans, the idea that we could band together to do something virtual immediately followed.

“Bandwidth is an online meeting point for our festival tribe, a celebration of our event and a snapshot of musicians working from home around the globe. It’s a non-traditional concert experience that we can provide for our audience to enjoy. Turn on, tune in, drop out.”

Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones welcomed today’s announcement.

“For years we’ve worked with organisers to build this event up to be one of Australia’s marquee music festivals. It would have been heartbreaking to have the event fall to the wayside in 2020,” Ms Jones said.  “As an industry, we’re facing incredible challenges at the moment.

“That’s why it’s great to see so many of our event organisers and tourism operators thinking outside the box to find new ways to get their message out and stay connected with people.
“Not only will Bandwidth appeal to the festival’s already strong following – it will open this event up to thousands more blues fans online.  “The potential for this event to grow the festival and bring more tourists to the Gold Coast in years to come is huge.”

Blues on Broadbeach’s social media: Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.